Introduction

The technological innovations now unfolding at amazing speed around the world are supported at their foundations by the evolution of new materials and advances in materials processing technology. Tohoku University has long been internationally renowned for its research and education in the science and technology of materials.

This reputation began with the establishment of the Research Institute and Department of Metallurgy in the early 1920s. The group has been growing and changing ever since, in order to remain in step with the dramatic growth in science and technology.

Today, undergraduate education is overseen by faculty members of the three departments, and research and education at the graduate level are administered by the three departments and two research institutes: The Institute for Materials Research and the Institute for Advanced Materials Processing.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENTS

  • Undergraduate education in the three departments is organized to give students a broad background in the field of materials science, including metals, semiconductors, ceramics and composites.
  • The undergraduate educational emphasis is on industrial technologies in each specific field of application and on basic science, including thermodynamics, transport phenomena, solid state physics, mechanics, and microstructure science.
  • In the final year of undergraduate study, each student selects a thesis supervisor from one of the three departments.
  • Graduate students can choose from a wide range of course subjects offered by departmental and research institute staffs. Students select a thesis supervisor from either departmental or research institute staff.
  • The Department of Metallurgy is devoted to the study of materials winning, purification, and chemistry with seven full professors at the head of each of the following sections: device materials chemistry, ferrous process metallurgy, process engineering of functional materials, materials process engineering for environmental consciousness, physical chemistry of materials, electrochemistry of materials, and physical chemistry of biomolecules and materials.
  • The Department of Materials Science is devoted to the study of the structural and functional properties of materials with eight full professors heading the following sections: atomistic materials science, applied solid state physics, solid surface science, microstructure science, structural materials, opto-electronic materials, magnetic materials, and special functional materials.
  • The Department of Materials Processing is devoted to the study of the formation, shaping, and evaluation of materials with seven full professors heading the following sections: materials systems and design, mechanics of composite materials, welding and joining technology, materials evaluation, liquid phase processing, deformation processing of materials, and powder process technology.